Man in custody after National Penn Bank robbed again

POTTSTOWN — A Pottstown man is in custody after he allegedly robbed a National Penn Bank Branch on Tuesday, police said. The East High Street branch had been robbed less than a month ago.

Pottstown Police apprehended Christopher Lee Blount shortly before 6 p.m., roughly six hours after he held up the bank at the corner of East High and Franklin streets.

According to police, “a single suspect entered the bank and demanded money,” around 11:45 a.m.

“No weapon was displayed,” a release said. “The suspect left with an undisclosed amount of cash and fled south from the bank.”

Pottstown Police did a search of the surrounding neighborhood and located unspecified evidence during the search which “narrow(ed)” the search.

Pottstown Police Capt. Robert Thomas said some surveillance footage was utilized in the investigation but did not disclose the other evidence utilized Tuesday.

Eventually, Blount was identified as the main suspect and arrested.

He was taken into custody without incident at his home, Thomas said.

Money was “not (recovered) at the time of his arrest,” according to Thomas.

Blount was scheduled for arraignment before District Judge Edward Kropp Sr. on charges of robbery, theft, receiving stolen property, and other related charges.

The same bank was robbed Aug. 30 by a man described as being a white male in his 30s between 5 feet 8 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall and a heavy build. That person also allegedly covered his face and was wearing a brown sweatshirt.

A suspect in that robbery was never named.

“The first robbery is still an open investigation at this point,” Thomas said when asked if Blount was being linked to it.

The branch remained closed through the afternoon following the robbery Tuesday.

A sign on the bank’s front read, “This branch is temporarily closed due to an emergency.” It directed customers to visit the next National Penn Bank branch located near Sunnybrook Ballroom in Lower Pottsgrove.